The Luft travel chess-set uses special silicon bands and the pebbles you can find!

There’s a rustic charm to Luft’s travel-friendly version of chess, which involves not precisely carved wooden, ivory, or plastic pieces, but small rocks with position-specific headgear on them! Drawing back to chess’s roots (in the Indian subcontinent), Luft explores playing chess with rudimentary objects rather than with fine, finished models. The board is a flexible leather mat, while the chess pieces are, in fact, tiny pebbles that you collect from around you while you’re outdoors. Just put the silicone bands around the pebbles and you’re ready to play crude, creative chess!

Designed by Omri Hillel, Luft is a solution to people who want to carry their board games around in a portable avatar without compromising on the quality of gameplay. Luft is, in that regard, every bit a chess set… but is visually the most unusually fun chess set ever made!

Designer: Omri Hillel

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Harman Kardon Onyx, JBL Spark and Pebbles speakers debut at IFA

DNP Harman Kardon Onyx, JBL Spark and Pebbles speakers debut at IFA

A part of all its audio announcements during IFA, Harman's showing off new multimedia speakers. The $499 Onyx leads the pack with a leather-wrapped standing circular design, compatibility with Airplay and DLNA, Bluetooth (aptX and AAC) with NFC paring and a six-hour rechargeable battery. A duo of three-inch woofers and 3/4-inch tweeters are housed in its enclosure, all of which are independently powered for a total peak output of 60-watts RMS. The speaker also uses Harman's DSP and packs dual passive bass radiators for optimal lowend response. A stainless steel handle makes it easy to carry between rooms and there's a 3.5mm input to ensure your jams never stop pumping if wireless connectivity is an issue. Expect it to be available later in the year.

Aside from that centerpiece, two new speakers are coming out of the JBL division. Getting less serious, the $130 Spark is an indoor Bluetooth speaker with a quirky transparent design that's shaped like a megaphone. The unit needs to plug into a wall for power, but features stereo output via two 40mm drivers, an inline controller on its fabric cable and a hook if you want to mount it to a wall. Lastly, the brand's $59 Pebbles are a coupled pair of USB-powered desktop speakers. The enclosures can stand vertically or horizontally and pack dual 50mm drivers aided by DSP. An auxiliary input is also onboard for your mp3 player, as is a cable management system for when you need to pack 'em up. Both the Spark and Pebbles will be available in a range of colors when they eventually hit shelves. Press releases for all the speakers mentioned are viewable after the break. %Gallery-slideshow79641%

Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!

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Source: Harman Kardon, JBL